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The Valley Citizen

Pursuing truth toward justice

The Valley Citizen

Pursuing truth toward justice
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Homelessnes Modesto

Homeless: “It’s different these days.”

August 30, 2019 By Eric Caine 3 Comments

Efren

Many believe today’s system of care and recovery for homeless people is antiquated and inadequate. For the most part, they’re right. Nevertheless, some people just need an intervention and chance to get back on their feet, especially those with income and a place to go. Efren Torres is one such person. Efren Torres had been clean for three years when he lost his wife in a tragic automobile accident in […]

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Homelessnes Modesto, Homelessness and Poverty in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in the San Joaquin Valley

Homeless: Do We Really Have Enough Money?

October 11, 2018 By Eric Caine 3 Comments

Spokespeople for Stanislaus County’s “Focus on Prevention” program for the homeless have been saying for months that, “Money’s not the problem.” For people who’ve been on the ground dealing with the burgeoning homeless population, the claim just doesn’t make sense. Especially since the City of Modesto opened Beard Brook Park to campers, the extent of the homelessness has become more and more evident. Within a couple of weeks, almost 200 […]

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Homelessnes Modesto, Homelessness and Poverty in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in Stanislaus County

Homeless: Is Camping the Answer?

September 27, 2018 By Eric Caine 5 Comments

Daniel Shockley says he’s been homeless , “About four months, this time.” Shockley had been living with his girlfriend near Modesto’s Fourth Street when a breakup left him with nowhere to go but the park. “The police were real nice,” he said Thursday. “They helped me move all my stuff here. Otherwise, it would have meant too many trips.” Shockley still doesn’t have a tent. Like other new arrivals, he […]

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Homelessnes Modesto, Homelessness and Poverty in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in Stanislaus County

Homeless and Mentally Ill: the Families

May 18, 2018 By Eric Caine 1 Comment

Sadie Koch was stunned when she learned a few weeks ago that her sister, Mary Baca, is homeless. Though she hadn’t seen her in well over three years, Sadie, who lives in Escalon, thought Mary was still living in Modesto with her friend and partner Linda.* The sisters had never been particularly close, but reunited when Mary returned to the Valley from Los Angeles, where she worked for a supermarket […]

Filed Under: Featured, History Tagged With: Homelessnes Modesto, Homelessness and Poverty in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in Stanislaus County, Mary Baca, Modesto homeless

Homeless: Denial Still Dominates

October 13, 2017 By Eric Caine 5 Comments

One year ago, Modesto City Councilmember Kristi Ah You suggested we should allow homeless people to camp in designated areas, including places like Beard Brook Park. Today, Beard Brook Park is surrounded by a chain link fence and hundreds of Valley citizens are facing yet another winter with nowhere to go. Virtually paralyzed by the problem, the City of Modesto has been unable to offer solutions other than futile anti-camping […]

Filed Under: Featured, Politics Tagged With: Homelessnes Modesto, Homelessness and Poverty in Stanislaus County, Homelessness in Stanislaus County, San Joaquin Valley homeless

Homeless: The Addicts

April 11, 2016 By Eric Caine 4 Comments

For many people, it’s axiomatic that homelessness is the inevitable result of drug use and addiction, and drug use and addiction themselves are the wages of sin. Oddly, these views of addiction no longer prevail among white middle- and upper-class people whose friends and family members have become victims of a heroin epidemic brought on in large part by over-prescribed pain-killers. Recently, when Carly Fiorina interrupted a Republican presidential debate […]

Filed Under: Featured, History Tagged With: Homelessnes Modesto, Homelessness in Stanislaus County

Homeless? Get a Job!

March 5, 2016 By Eric Caine 1 Comment

You’re fifty-eight years old and you’ve been homeless for the most part of the last ten years. Surprisingly, you’re still strong and still have your mental faculties. But you know you can’t keep doing this. Like most homeless people, your teeth are grotesquely ruined. But you’ve learned Obamacare can help you get replacements. You apply in February. Little do you know you won’t have your teeth until October. When you’re […]

Filed Under: Featured, History Tagged With: Homelessnes Modesto

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Off The Wire

?This is where society fails to have an answer?: Poll reveals Bay Area residents? frustration with street homelessness
“This is where society fails to have an answer”: Poll reveals Bay Area residents? frustration with street homelessness
Data includes support for possible measures, including a court system with the power to order people into mental health treatment.
www.mercurynews.com
?Monster Fracks? Are Getting Far Bigger. And Far Thirstier.
“Monster Fracks” Are Getting Far Bigger. And Far Thirstier.
A Times analysis shows that increasingly complex oil and gas wells now require astonishing volumes of water to fracture the bedrock and release fossil fuels, threatening America’s fragile aquifers.
www.nytimes.com
Newsom urges SCOTUS to consider encampment ruling that has 'paralyzed' California cities
Newsom urges SCOTUS to consider encampment ruling that has ‘paralyzed’ California cities
The Democratic governor’s intervention lays down a mark in a legal dispute with potentially profound implications for one of California’s most pressing issues.
www.politico.com
Clarence Thomas Secretly Participated in Koch Network Donor Events
Clarence Thomas Secretly Participated in Koch Network Donor Events
Thomas has attended at least two Koch donor summits, putting him in the extraordinary position of having helped a political network that has brought multiple cases before the Supreme Court.
www.propublica.org
How hungry is California? Millions struggle to eat well in an abundant state
How hungry is California? Millions struggle to eat well in an abundant state
How bad is hunger in California? A lot depends on your access to food aid, which expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic but now is being reduced.
calmatters.org
Sacramento DA sues city over homeless encampments
Sacramento DA sues city over homeless encampments
Sacramento County had nearly 9,300 homeless people in 2022, based on data from the annual Point in Time count. That was up 67% from 2019. Roughly three-quarters of the county’s homeless population….
www.mercurynews.com
At Last, a Real Possibility to Avoid Catastrophic Climate Change
At Last, a Real Possibility to Avoid Catastrophic Climate Change
After decades of minimal action, Congress passed the largest and most comprehensive piece of climate legislation in U.S. history. Will we make the most of this opportunity?
www.audubon.org
How the fentanyl crisis' fourth wave has hit every corner of the US
How the fentanyl crisis’ fourth wave has hit every corner of the US
The epidemic’s staggering scale and infiltration of communities is laid bare in a new study.
www.bbc.com
Can licensed tent villages ease California's homelessness epidemic? This nonprofit thinks so
Can licensed tent villages ease California’s homelessness epidemic? This nonprofit thinks so
Taking people off the street and into tents is a new twist on homeless shelter being explored by the San Francisco-based Urban Alchemy in two tent villages operating in Los Angeles and Culver City.
www.latimes.com
Mississippi has problems, but it's handling homelessness better than L.A.
Mississippi has problems, but it’s handling homelessness better than L.A.
The public tends to blame homelessness on poverty, drug use, crime or even warm weather. But other cities don’t have L.A. levels of street homelessness because they have more available housing.
www.latimes.com
Neo-Nazis March Through Florida Park
Neo-Nazis March Through Florida Park
The demonstrators raised “Heil Hitler” salutes and waved flags with swastikas.
www.thedailybeast.com
Families have high hopes for Gavin Newsom's CARE Courts. Providers want to lower expectations
Families have high hopes for Gavin Newsom’s CARE Courts. Providers want to lower expectations
Gov. Gavin Newsom?s experiment to push Californians with mental illness off the streets and into treatment, CARE Court, starts soon.
calmatters.org

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The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

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The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
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Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
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